11. Eleven Freya
Eleven: Freya
“ I 'm not ready yet," Kaleb mumbled into his phone in a frustrated tone. “Just come in for five minutes.” He flung the front door open, revealing a chuckling Brent who watched his friend with amusement as he disappeared upstairs to get dressed in his shooting attire—a tight black long-sleeved top and cargo pants. It was my favourite outfit of his.
“Hey, Freya,” Brent greeted me, his smile reaching his ears.
“Hey. Both heading out?” I locked my phone, my eyes feeling square after staring at it aimlessly for what felt like hours. I’d been scouring the internet for more information on my dad's company but had come up empty-handed.
Brent moved over to the couch, settling down next to me. “Yeah. You're not at college today?”
“Class was cancelled.”
“So, what have you been doing all day? You look tired.”
“You are charming, Brent. Thank you.” I shook my head and laughed. “I've just been doing college work, but I haven't been able to concentrate. My mind isn't with it.”
“Well, you know what the best thing to do is when you feel like your mind isn't doing what you want it to?” He paused for dramatic effect. “Shoot.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, come on,” he encouraged, shrugging. “For your first time shooting, you actually weren't half-bad, and it's always nice to have some company that isn't a grouchy Kaleb. He cramps my style.”
“Thank you for the invite, but I definitely don’t fit in there. I stuck out like a sore thumb.”
“Maybe next time, then,” Brent said with a tilt of the head, both of us gazing up as Kaleb made his way down the steps.
Why did he have to have the face of an angel? It made it so much harder to dislike him.
“Brent, stop flirting. Let's go.” He pulled his keys from his pocket.
“I was just asking Freya if she wanted to join.”
Kaleb's jaw tensed, and he narrowed his eyes at his friend. “No. Freya isn't coming. Don't be an idiot. You were already stupid enough to invite her once.”
“Relax, man. It was just a simple question. I wasn't pushing or anything.”
Kaleb took a step closer to Brent, lowering his voice. “If you're not going to take this seriously, then—“
Brent's eyes widened, his worrisome gaze flickering to me for a split second. ”I am. Let's just go, alright?”
Kaleb nodded, glancing at me briefly before they both ducked out the door.
What was that about?
My phone buzzed, and I debated strangling it, expecting Zach to appear on my screen again.
Hannah: Josh has invited me to his house for a party, and I need someone to go with. Meet me at mine at eight and we can walk together?
I tapped my fingers against the screen. Hannah and Josh were slowly becoming an item, and I knew that going to this party would allow her to make her move. What kind of friend would I be if I refused to wing woman her?
Freya: Fine, I don’t see why not. See you then.
Laying back down on the couch, I switched on the TV, losing myself in some cringy and barf-worthy reality show. I enjoyed watching other people try to manoeuvre their way through their messed-up lives. It made me feel better about mine, although the people on TV were getting paid to do it. I was doing it for free.
What felt like an hour or two passed quickly, and the sound of a car pulling up outside sparked my interest. I waited for the joyous melody of Kaleb and Brent’s usual bickering.But I heard nothing.
Snooping, I poked my head up to peek out of the window, my heart skipping a beat when I spotted Zach's car parked outside.
Shit.
I panicked, ducking down so I couldn't be seen. The top of Zach’s head bobbed up and down as he climbed out of the front seat, leaning back against the hood.
My phone vibrated from next to me.
Zach: I'm outside. Can we talk? There’s been a huge misunderstanding, and I think you're just really stressed about everything and have acted impulsively. Let me in so we can talk. We need to sort this out.
Showing up at my house was a crazy move. He was acting deluded.
Freya: Zach, please just go home. I'm trying to work. I meant what I said earlier, but we can talk about it tomorrow before class. Now isn't the right time. This isn't even my house.
Zach: I'll wait here until you change your mind, then. Don't be a coward, Freya. Come and say it to my face.
Was this boy for real? I was more than happy to say it to his face, but I really wasn’t in the mood for his shit.
A gasp escaped my lips when I heard a knock at the door, and I yanked the curtain shut, but after a couple of minutes of incessant knocking, it was apparent that Zach wasn’t going to give up.
“Freya, come on!” he yelled from the other side of the door, the wood creaking as he—what I assumed was—kicked it. “You're just embarrassing me now!”
“ I'm embarrassing you ?” I growled, grinding my jaw in frustration. Zach had flipped. He’d never acted this way before, but it appeared he believed he had some creepy claim over me.
I flung the door open, adrenaline pumping through my body, making me see red. “What the fuck are you doing? You’re acting like a madman!”
Zach’s eyes blazed, and he jutted his foot out so I couldn't shut the door before getting in my face.
“What are you going to do, Zach?” I seethed. “Force your way in here and demand I explain my reasoning for cutting things off with you? Do you actually believe this is salvageable after you've reacted this way?”
He simmered, and I could've sworn I saw steam puff out from his ears. He grabbed me by the biceps, yanking me into the kitchen with him, his long fingers digging into my skin painfully.
“Zach, let me go! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“You want to treat me like shit for no reason? Why? What did I do to you? I've been nothing but a gentleman,” Zach complained loudly, backing me up against the kitchen counter and trapping me.
“Get out, or I'm going to call the police,” I spat with as much confidence as I could muster. I shoved at his chest, and although he grunted at my harsh whack , he didn’t budge.
Zach snatched my phone from my hand and lobbed it to the other side of the room, the device clattering to the ground.
“You’re fucking paying for that if you’ve broken it.”
“You're just one of those girls who enjoys playing with men,” he snapped. “You used me as a prize. I bet you loved waltzing around campus with a hot guy on your arm, but what did I gain from it? I wasted so much time on you, you know that?”
“Get the fuck off me!” I yelled as he pressed his chest to mine, his eyes smouldering. Gazing to my left, I thanked my lucky stars that the cap to the cooking oil wasn’t on, and I grabbed it and threw it into Zach’s face, profanities escaping his mouth as he frantically wiped at his eyes. It was just a shame the oil hadn’t been hot.
He growled in my face, the liquid dripping from his chin. “What was the point in me treating you so well when you didn’t appreciate it? Do you know how many girls want me?”
I drove my knee upwards towards his balls, but he angled his body to the side, so I ended up jabbing his inner thigh instead, and I took the opportunity from his slight movement to slip past him and launch myself toward the front door.
However, it was shoved open before I could get to it, and my wide eyes landed on a frantic-looking Kaleb—Brent close behind him. Both of them held their guns high.
They moved towards us quickly, and Zach was shoved to the ground in a split second. Kaleb clambered on top of him and launched a punch to his face while Brent checked me over for injuries, but I couldn't help but cringe as Kaleb continued to sock Zach in the face, the sound sickening.
“You want to touch a woman against her will, hmm? I’ll rip your hands off your body so you can never use them again,” Kaleb taunted with a surprisingly calm tone, continuing to assault Zach until his nose was spurting blood. I shot Brent a wide-eyed look, causing him to yank Zach up by the collar and pull him away, shoving him against the frame of the doorway.
“What happened? Did he hurt you?” Kaleb asked me, swallowing harshly. The side of his face was smeared with Zach’s blood, and after noticing my eyes continue to flicker to the spatter, he wiped at it with his sleeve. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gazed over at Brent, who kept Zach pinned against the wood. “Do you want to press charges?”
“Although Kaleb will get in shit for beating the fuck out of him,” Brent added loudly, but Kaleb scowled, silencing him.
Zach groaned in response, his head lolling back as he regained his senses.
I shook my head. “I think he got what he deserved.”
“Barely.” Brent scoffed before dragging Zach out of the house, throwing him to the ground, and marching back after warning him never to come anywhere near the house again.
I settled down on a dining room chair.
“We heard you yelling from outside,” Brent said, clicking his gun back into its holster.
“He just showed up and barged his way in.”
Kaleb cursed, pulling up a chair and sitting opposite me. “What’s his name?”
“Zach.”
“I know that.” A sigh escaped his lips. “His full name, Freya.”
I twiddled my thumbs on my lap.
Kaleb raised his thick brows. “I’ll find out whether you tell me or not. You’ll just be saving me time.”
Dragging my bottom lip into my mouth, I focused on how Kaleb’s tongue scraped against the front of his teeth. It was something he always did when he was upset or uncomfortable—a telltale sign he wasn't thrilled right now. “Zach Peters.” I attempted to catch my breath, but my throat felt like it was closing. I was a pretty tough cookie, but what had just happened had thrown me into a state of shock.
“Freya, you’re fine,” Kaleb said, kneeling down on the floor before me after noticing my shaking hands. He placed his palm on the back of my head, guiding it down. “Put your head between your knees and close your eyes. Try to breathe slowly.”
I did as he said, my pulse rapid and my skin clammy. The room was primarily silent as I tried to calm down, and I focused on anything but my elevated breathing rate, counting the number of cracks in the wood beneath me and the small individual splatters of mud on the laces of my tennis shoes.
After a couple of minutes, my chest loosened up.
“Better?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, lifting my head slowly to avoid any dizziness.
“Okay.” Kaleb’s jaw was taut, and his eyes were heated, his pupils blown out. “I'm getting the house security cameras in case that asshole comes back.”